Ghana farmers trained in improved sorghum-growing techniques

Members of Ghana's farming sector, including farmers and agro-processors, recently attended a day's training workshop on sorghum cultivation. The workshop equipped them with the modern skills and knowledge of the cultivation of selected varieties of sorghum under the West African Sorghum Chain Development Project (WASCDP).

Technoserve, an NGO, organized the workshop which took place in Bolgatanga and attracted participants from the Brong-Ahafo, Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions. Funding was from a unit within the Food Agricultural Organisation (FAO) with technical support from Guinness Ghana Breweries.

The Project Manager, Steven Mwinkaara, said the scheme is operational in Sierra Leone and Ghana. The project is intended to help farmers to improve upon their efficiency of production, increase their yield per hectare using the same kind of inputs and enhance their economic returns.

He said the idea is to facilitate the production and mobilization of selected sorghum varieties for the brewing industry. He revealed that currently farmers were reaping less than one tonne per hectare of sorghum, compared with other countries where yields were as high as 10 tonnes per hectare.

MyJoyOnline